Friday, July 13, 2012

UNFAITHFUL: PREDICTABLE TO A POINT


When this movie was released in 2002 I wasn't in a rush to see it. The same holds true of its initial release to DVD. So when I got the blu-ray copy in it took me a while to get around to it. By the end of the film I realized I wasn't wrong in putting it off.

Diane Lane plays Connie Sumner, a suburban housewife and mother who loves her husband Charlie (Richard Gere) and adores her son. On a trip to New York she finds herself in the midst of a wind storm and bumps into a young man named Paul (Olivier Martinez) carrying a load of books. They help one another up and he offers her the use of his bathroom to clean up and bandage a nasty scrape on her knee. This act of kindness ends up in flirtation but nothing comes of it. Until later.

As she recalls the encounter, Connie ends up going back to meet with Paul and an affair ensues. Connie finds herself caught up in the moment, exhilarated by the secretive meetings and sexual involvement but at the same time knowing that she's putting her life back home in jeopardy. It's not that she's unhappy at home or that she's married to someone who treats her bad or ignores her, but she feels something is missing.

Charlie becomes suspicious as Connie's attitude at home changes. The head of a security firm it doesn't take much for him to find someone to follow her and discover just what is going on. How he handles this, what he does after he discovers the affair makes up the latter part of the movie.

This movie just felt like something that the actors walked through. I know during discussions in the extras (one of which is their appearance on the CHARLIE ROSE SHOW) they talk about the depth of their characters and the inner meanings of what transposes during the film, but I never felt that there was the depth that they speak of during interviews.

Director Adrian Lyne has made a career out of sexually charged films in which his characters often toss aside the morality of the day to explore their more animal natures. 9 1/2 WEEKS, FATAL ATTRACTION, INDECENT PROPOSAL and LOLITA are just a few and to me I see a director obsessed with his own views of morality attempting to justify them rather than a film maker intent on making a good movie. In truth I was never a fan of any of these films and found them far too predictable. This one was the same with a slight twist but one that was unsatisfying.

The film will find a number of viewers though. These will be fans of Lane, a beautiful woman who I am certain fills the dreams and imaginations of many lonely males in this world. They will rent or purchase this movie based not on an interest in the film but because somewhere online they discovered pictures of her nude connected to this film. If that's the only reason to watch this then take my advice and don't bother.

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